7 ms·

One of the amazing things from a western perspective about the less developed world is being able to buy a full course of antibiotics without a prescription for

One of the amazing things from a western perspective about the less developed world is being able to buy a full course of antibiotics without a prescription for a few dollars. In the US you'd need an appointment, insurance paperwork or no insurance and then the actual meds might be $50-$80, if your doctor insists on prescribing the latest pharmaceuticals. "I think this is infected" "Looks like it. Here you go!"

jpmoral 3y ago
Not everywhere 'Western' is like the US. Saw my GP a couple of weeks ago and got prescribed antibiotics. Full course was < 10 AUD. No insurance necessary.
- infinghxsg 3y ago
  [dead]
- wil421 3y ago
  Same there in America. Saw my kids pediatrician this week and it was $8 for antibiotic ear drops.
  - Freedom2 3y ago
    What insurance did you have?
boeingUH60 3y ago
Yeah, drugs are relatively cheap here, and you just walk into a pharmacy and buy it. A true free market, although self-medication is a major problem.
MisterBastahrd 3y ago
My ex-gf had a condition that needed to be treated with antibiotics and at the time she was between jobs. The doctor made a few calls and her out of pocket for a full prescription was $5.
cinntaile 3y ago
Antibiotics should be carefully described, so I don't think it's good they can be bought without a subscription.
BrandoElFollito 3y ago
In France (and probably the rest of the EU, at least the countries I visited) you cannot get antibiotics freely. They need to be prescribed by your MD. And usually generics. Cost is 1€. Whether they are prescribed correctly is another story (France used to be very into prescribing antibiotics for everything, this changed in the last 20 years)
- aww_dang 3y ago
  Generics are generally pretty cheap. There are some indications that US doctors are incentivized to prescribe patented meds. I know I've received them when I strongly suspected a generic would have been fine. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8315858/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8315858/ >These analyses included several types of prescribing decisions, finding that physicians who received industry payments were more likely to prescribe drugs made by the companies that had paid them over alternatives, had higher prescribing costs, and prescribed relatively more brand-name products over generic alternatives. The positive results of these studies spanned a broad range of physician specialties and drug classes.
  - BrandoElFollito 3y ago
    In France generics are compulsory (there are some exceptions), otherwise you have some problems with the reimbursement. This is not strong enough but at least this is something. The pharmaceutics have to provide a generic if it exists, even if the prescription is for another drug (except if the MD explicitly states that the specific drug must be used, with an explanation and they have to report this)

jpmoral 3y ago

Not everywhere 'Western' is like the US. Saw my GP a couple of weeks ago and got prescribed antibiotics. Full course was < 10 AUD. No insurance necessary.

infinghxsg 3y ago
[dead]
wil421 3y ago
Same there in America. Saw my kids pediatrician this week and it was $8 for antibiotic ear drops.
- Freedom2 3y ago
  What insurance did you have?

boeingUH60 3y ago

Yeah, drugs are relatively cheap here, and you just walk into a pharmacy and buy it. A true free market, although self-medication is a major problem.

MisterBastahrd 3y ago

My ex-gf had a condition that needed to be treated with antibiotics and at the time she was between jobs. The doctor made a few calls and her out of pocket for a full prescription was $5.

cinntaile 3y ago

Antibiotics should be carefully described, so I don't think it's good they can be bought without a subscription.

BrandoElFollito 3y ago

In France (and probably the rest of the EU, at least the countries I visited) you cannot get antibiotics freely. They need to be prescribed by your MD. And usually generics. Cost is 1€. Whether they are prescribed correctly is another story (France used to be very into prescribing antibiotics for everything, this changed in the last 20 years)

aww_dang 3y ago
Generics are generally pretty cheap. There are some indications that US doctors are incentivized to prescribe patented meds. I know I've received them when I strongly suspected a generic would have been fine. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8315858/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8315858/ >These analyses included several types of prescribing decisions, finding that physicians who received industry payments were more likely to prescribe drugs made by the companies that had paid them over alternatives, had higher prescribing costs, and prescribed relatively more brand-name products over generic alternatives. The positive results of these studies spanned a broad range of physician specialties and drug classes.
- BrandoElFollito 3y ago
  In France generics are compulsory (there are some exceptions), otherwise you have some problems with the reimbursement. This is not strong enough but at least this is something. The pharmaceutics have to provide a generic if it exists, even if the prescription is for another drug (except if the MD explicitly states that the specific drug must be used, with an explanation and they have to report this)